Sabkhas are key landforms along the southern coast of the Arabian Gulf and represent modern analogues for depositional and diagenetic processes controlling properties and quality of ancient hydrocarbon-bearing carbonates. While previous investigations of coastal sabkhas in Qatar have mainly focused on dolomitization processes, presented here is one of the first studies reconstructing facies changes and coastal formation in great detail. In the sabkha of Al-Kharayej (Gulf of Salwa), fifteen different facies types were distinguished based on twelve sediment cores, two trenches, as well as grain-size distribution, X-ray powder diffraction, thin section and microfossil analyses. Age estimates were based on seventy-eight ¹⁴C-AMS and optically stimulated luminescence data. The sabkha parasequence comprises pre-transgressive dune sands, a thin, transgressive layer of reworked dune material, a mid-energy open-coast to open-lagoon facies, a low-energy lagoon facies, saline lake facies (salina: swallow-tail gypsum and gypsum mush) and the supratidal sabkha characterized by diagenetic overprinting (buckled gypsum crusts and halite crust). Transgressive marine flooding created open-coast to open-lagoon sedimentation after ca 7000 cal yr bp, followed by initial spit formation at the northern sabkha end at the beginning of the relative sea-level highstand (6000 cal yr bp). This main outer spit prograded southward and a more narrow, low-energy spit, diverted landward, closing a small lagoon in the northern sabkha 4500 to 4000 cal yr bp. The falling relative sea-level and longshore drift intensified the southward extension and widening of the main spit, and the main lagoon became more shallow. At 2000 to 1500 cal yr bp, the outer spit had almost closed the main lagoon, leading to salina and, finally, sabkha conditions. It is shown how specific local conditions (coastline orientation; wind, wave, tidal energy, longshore drift; depositional relief; sediment sources) created a spit-controlled sabkha that is genetically distinct from the classical model of shore-perpendicular accumulation of coarser sediment during high tides or storms.

中文翻译：

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萨尔瓦湾东部（卡塔尔）沿海 sabkha 的高分辨率相分析：时空重建

Sabkhas 是阿拉伯湾南部海岸的关键地貌，代表了现代类似物，用于控制古代含烃碳酸盐的性质和质量的沉积和成岩过程。虽然以前对卡塔尔沿海 sabkhas 的调查主要集中在白云石化过程，但这里介绍的是最早详细重建相变化和沿海形成的研究之一。在 Al-Kharayej（萨尔瓦湾）的 sabkha，根据 12 个沉积岩心、2 个海沟以及粒度分布、X 射线粉末衍射、薄片和微化石分析，区分了 15 种不同的相类型。年龄估计是基于 78 ¹⁴C-AMS 和光激发发光数据。sabkha 准层序包括海侵前沙丘砂、一层薄的海侵层重新加工的沙丘材料、中等能量的开阔海岸至开阔泻湖相、低能量泻湖相、盐湖相（salina：燕尾石膏和石膏糊）和以成岩叠印为特征的潮上砂岩（弯曲的石膏结壳和岩盐结壳）。海进的海洋洪水在7000 大卡/年之后形成了开阔海岸到开放式泻湖的沉积，随后在相对海平面高位开始时（6000 卡/年）。这个主要的外部喷口向南推进，一个更狭窄、低能量的喷口向陆地转移，在 4500 至 4000 卡/年bp关闭了北部 sabkha 的一个小泻湖。相对海平面下降和沿岸漂移加剧了主沙嘴向南延伸和加宽，主泻湖变浅。在 2000 至 1500 cal yr bp时，外吐口几乎关闭了主要泻湖，导致盐碱地，最后形成 sabkha 条件。它显示了特定的当地条件（海岸线方向；风、波浪、潮汐能、沿岸漂移；沉积地势；沉积物来源）如何产生一个受喷口控制的 sabkha，它在遗传上不同于较粗沉积物沿岸垂直堆积的经典模型。涨潮或风暴。